I keep wanting to hold off on updates until I have more on the backburner, but I figured as a special New Year's surprise, I'd upload this chapter as soon as I had it finished! It was also super fun to write, so I was definitely excited to get it out to all of you.

LAST TIME: Michelle ends up falling in the Top 8 of the Grand Festival. Although she is disappointed, Michelle is proud of how far she's come. Ash informs his daughter that in her first Grand Festival, May also came in the Top 8. Michelle smiles, knowing that she's getting closer to following in her idols' footsteps. Now the family has returned home to Cerulean City in order for Aiden to prepare for the upcoming Pokémon League!

Chapter 70: Back Home Training

"Blastoise, use water gun! Arcanine, flamethrower!"

Aiden watched intently as his Pokémon fired off their attacks at a target he'd spent a good part of the morning building. It was already pretty well worn in, and Aiden had no intention of stopping his training until the target was completely obliterated.

Then he'd just put the thing back together and start all over again.

Both attacks landed simultaneously, creating a minor explosion which brought a smile to the boy's face.

"You guys are so strong!" Aiden complimented his Pokémon, who looked over their shoulders to grin at him. "If we can keep this up, the Indigo League's got our names all over it!"

"Aiiiiiiiiiiden!"

The trainer groaned and closed his eyes, much to his Pokémon's bewilderment. "Oh no…"

Elizabeth came flitting into the backyard, a bottle of water in her hands. "I brought this for you! In case you got thirsty!"

Aiden opened his eyes and reluctantly took the offering from his sister. "Thanks, Lizzie. I appreciate it! But could you just give me some space while I train?"

The girl seemed confused, if not slightly offended, by the suggestion. "No! I'm your assistant!"

"Assistant?" Aiden repeated incredulously.

Elizabeth nodded her head. "Big, famous Pokémon trainers have assistants."

"Dad doesn't," Aiden reminded her.

She tilted her head. "Yeah, Scott is!"

"No, he's his manager," Aiden sighed.

"What's the difference?" Elizabeth squeaked.

"A manager does more important stuff than just an assistant would…I think," Aiden murmured, rubbing his chin. In reality, he wasn't entirely sure of that. All he knew was he'd called Scott his father's assistant once, and the man had gotten pretty embarrassed by it.

"Well, I think I'm even more important than him!" Elizabeth crowed. "I can bring you anything you need!"

"Lizzie, I already told you-"

"It's bad to not have people," Elizabeth interrupted him, her eyes narrowed. "You saw what happened to Mommy when she didn't have Daddy!"

"Yeah, but that's different-"

"No it's not!"

Aiden sighed noisily. It was hard to change his younger sister's mind when she got it stuck on something, if not impossible. She was a bad combination of stubborn and determined, and really wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

"Fine," he grumbled, figuring it was easier to give in than to keep arguing with her. "You can be my assistant."

"Yes!" Elizabeth cheered.

"But you can't interrupt me when I'm in the middle of training!" Aiden huffed. "If I need something, I'll ask you for it. Got it?"

"Got it," Elizabeth parroted, nodding her head.

From the kitchen window, Misty watched the two and giggled to herself. It was just loud enough, however, for Ash to hear her. Looking up from his breakfast, he blinked and asked, "what's got you all amused?"

"Elizabeth came barging in here before insisting she was Aiden's new assistant," Misty explained, turning towards her husband with a glint in her eye. "Based on what I'm seeing, that was a self-appointed position."

Ash smirked and shook his head. "That sounds about right."

"Hopefully she doesn't drive him too insane," Misty sighed wistfully, stepping away from the window to sit down at the table with her husband. "Although Aiden does seem to have some extra patience when it comes to his little sister."

"Too bad he can't spread that around a little more," Ash mused playfully.

Michelle came slowly down the stairs, rounding into the kitchen with Pichu in her arms and surprising her parents.

"You slept in late," Misty noted. "Later than your brother!"

"I think the Grand Festival took more out of me than I realized," Michelle replied, looking just as surprised as she sounded.

"Not surprising," Ash agreed. "Then again, you are getting dangerously close to teenage territory. They like to sleep a lot!"

Michelle scrunched up her nose as she moved the baby mouse to her shoulder. "I'm only 11!"

"That's too close to teenage years for me," Ash confirmed, nodding his head.

Misty scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Ignore him. He's just upset he hasn't found a way to freeze time yet. Are you hungry?"

Michelle laughed a bit and nodded her head. "Yeah!"

Misty beamed and got up from her seat. "Perfect! I'll make you anything you want!"

Ash's jaw dropped. "Hey, when I asked for breakfast, you told me to 'stuff it and pour a bowl of cereal'!"

"That's because you're not our daughter who's been on the road away from us for so long," Misty hastily replied. "And also because you're a grown man who should really know how to cook by now."

Michelle's laughter only increased as Ash pouted. "You know the last time I tried I almost set the kitchen on fire."

"I try to forget," Misty quipped.

Michelle smirked and shook her head. Her parents could be so funny sometimes. "Well, if you're offering, I wouldn't mind some of your famous banana pancakes!"

Misty grinned and snapped her fingers together. "Coming right up!"

"Elizabeth! What did I tell you about bothering me while I'm training?"

"But your tummy growled so loud that everyone in Alola heard it!"

"No it didn't!"

"Yes it did!"

The rest of the family turned towards the back door just as Aiden came storming through it, Elizabeth following eagerly behind.

"All I did was give you a snack!" Elizabeth cried.

"You threw it at my head while I was commanding Absol!" Aiden argued.

"That was so I didn't bother you like you said!"

"That's literally the definition of bothering me!"

Ash sighed and got out of his own chair. "Alright, time out you two."

Aiden looked up at his father, brown eyes blazing and causing Ash to take a small stumble backwards. "Tell Elizabeth to quit bugging me!"

"I'm helping!" Elizabeth growled, turning her attention onto Ash as well.

"I'm trying train for the Indigo League, and she thinks it's a game!"

"No I don't!"

"Dad, tell her I don't have time to play with her right now!"

"No, Daddy, tell him I just want to help!"

Ash groaned and rubbed the side of his head. "Please tell me I'm still sleeping and this is just a very realistic nightmare."

Misty snickered from her spot at the counter where she was preparing Michelle's breakfast. "No dice for you, unfortunately."

"Dad!"

"Daddy!"

Ash dramatically threw his hand down and glared at his arguing children. "Would it kill you guys to try and get along for five minutes?"

"Only when Aiden stops being mean and dumb!" Elizabeth cried.

"Lizzie, that's not nice," Ash warned her.

"Neither is Aiden!"

Ash bit his lower lip. "Alright. I think we all need to take a break."

Michelle raised a wry eyebrow at the suggestion. "I just woke up."

"Well you can keep your break going," Ash sighed, swirling his index finger around. "I think getting out of the house for a little while will do everyone some good."

"Yay!" Elizabeth cheered.

Aiden, however, was less than pleased. "No way! I have some serious training to do, remember?"

"You can't train all day and night before the league, Aiden," Ash reminded his son. "You'll wear yourself out!"

"I never wear myself out," Aiden scoffed.

"This is way different than anything you've have to deal with before," Ash calmly continued. "It's not the same as a gym battle, or even any other tournament. This is the Pokémon League. If you don't conserve some of your energy and your mental sanity, you're going to regret it."

"Your father knows what he's talking about," Misty chimed in, having moved over to the stovetop. "And I never say that lightly."

Ash groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Where do you expect us to go?" Michelle asked before gasping excitedly. "Oh, is it the mall?!"

"No!" Ash and Aiden cried simultaneously.

Michelle's big grin instantly flipped to a frown. "Aw."

"I was thinking we could take a little trip to Professor Oak's lab," Ash suggested.

Michelle's face lit back up again. "Okay, that's even better than the mall!"

Elizabeth began to clap her hands together, indicating that she too was excited by the idea.

"Does that work for you, Aiden?" Ash asked.

The boy was clearly disgruntled, but finally sighed, "I guess."

Ash smiled sympathetically at his son. "You'll have a good time. And like I said, a little bit of a break never hurt anyone!"

"Your father is neglecting to tell you all he wanted to do before the Indigo League was goof around," Misty suddenly intercepted, handing the completed plate of pancakes off to Michelle. "Brock and I had to continually force him to stay back in Pallet Town and train."

"Yeah, and guess what?" Ash boasted as he puffed his chest out. "You guys never succeeded!"

"You didn't either, once the league actually came around," Misty reminded him.

Ash scowled, adding, "Alright, fine. I wasn't very disciplined when I was Aiden's age. It took me a little longer to get there. But I know there's got to be a happy medium between being lazy and training relentlessly."

Misty smiled earnestly at him. "There's something we can agree on."

"Besides, Professor Oak might have some good advice for you!" Ash suggested, turning his focus back onto his son. "He always did for me before my biggest competitions."

Although Aiden still seemed displeased, he finally managed to soften a bit. "That's a good point. Okay. I'll try not to think about training while we're there!"

Ash grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "Good enough for me!"

XXX

Professor Oak's lab was just the same as the day Aiden and Michelle had left for their journey…except for the lack of rushing by the two young trainers and the destruction of the peace and serenity by their excited shrieking and heated arguments.

One thing that hadn't changed was Aiden barging into the lab like it belonged to him.

"I don't think that boy believes in doorbells…or knocking," Misty sighed, rubbing her temples.

"At least he's excited to be here," Ash chuckled. "You should give him a break today!"

"I'll try to keep that in mind," Misty grumbled.

Aiden ran up the stairs towards the actual lab. He figured that was the best place to look for Professor Oak, as that's where the elderly researcher tended to spend most of his time. Once he reached the top of the stairs, Aiden looked around, frowning when he didn't see anyone right away.

"Professor Oak?" The boy called, taking another look around the room. "Are you in here?"

"Oh, Aiden!"

He perked up, but faltered slightly when it was not Professor Oak who appeared from behind a nearby bookcase, but rather his uncle. Not wanting to appear rude, Aiden put his smile back on and straightened up.

"Hey, Uncle Tracey!" Aiden greeted.

"It's alright," Tracey replied with a chuckle. "You don't have to pretend to not be disappointed because I'm not the professor."

Aiden grimaced. "Was it that obvious?"

"Only a little," Tracey teased, smirking at his nephew.

"I was just hoping to ask Professor Oak for some advice before the Indigo League," Aiden explained. "I've been trying to train non-stop, but my dad made me take a break."

"He does know what he's talking about," Tracey mused, nodding his head.

"Now you sound like my mom," Aiden groaned.

"Well, that would make sense; he's my brother-in-law, after all!"

Aiden raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder, finding his mother standing behind him and smirking. Ash, who was by Misty's side, scratched his temple.

"Even I know that doesn't make any sense," Ash muttered, his eyes wandering as Pikachu and Pichu hopped off of his shoulders to race around the room.

Tracey, when he saw the couple, appeared surprised. "Wow, you three came here without Michelle and Elizabeth?"

Misty's smug expression turned to one of bewilderment. "Huh? Of course not! They're right…" she looked to her left hand side, and rolled her eyes when she found the space was vacant. "They ran off somewhere."

Aiden's brow shot up. "They probably went out back, to the preserves! That's like…Michelle's favorite place to hang out."

Ash released a breath of realization and lifted one of his index fingers. "There's that twin telepathy again!"

"More like common sense," Aiden teased, shaking his head.

"That's where Professor Oak was as well, last time I checked," Tracey added. "Let's all head down there and see if we can't find them!"

XXX

"Lookit all the Oddish! Hi there!"

Michelle giggled as her little sister waved to the weed Pokémon, who happily bounced under the child's gleeful watch.

"My, I think that little Elizabeth is a Pokémon whisperer!"

Michelle smirked and turned her head. "She's always been really good with Pokémon! And they've always loved her…I think she probably gets it from our dad. Not that our mom isn't good with Pokémon! But he's got some kind of…unnatural connection with them. I'd think half of the stories he tells us were made up if he didn't have Mom and Brock and all of his other friends to back them up."

Professor Oak chuckled and slowly stood up, having been knelt down to leave some food for the surrounding grass types who were currently preoccupied with Elizabeth. "He sure has some good ones, doesn't he?"

"Heh, you could say that…"

"Come here, Mr. Oddball."

Elizabeth's squeaky voice regained Michelle and Professor Oak's attention. She was now holding one of the Oddish in her arms, turning around to face the others and beaming at them.

"Lizzie, you're not naming Professor Oak's Pokémon again, are you?" Michelle groaned.

"Yep!" Elizabeth chirped. "This one is Mr. Oddball! He's the smallest, just like me!" Turning around again, she began pointing at the other Oddish, rattling off, "that one is Oliver, and that one is Dishy, and that one is Patrick!"

Michelle snorted. "Patrick?"

Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders. "What? He looks like a Patrick!"

Professor Oak laughed once again, amused by the girls' interaction. "Those are all lovely names!"

Elizabeth brightened at the compliment and began to pet the Oddish she was holding on the head.

"Oh, there they are!"

If possible, Elizabeth lit up even more and ran over to their newly arrived guests. "Daddy! Meet Mr. Oddball!"

Ash chuckled as his daughter held the Oddish out towards him. "Mr. Oddball, huh? Did the professor give Oddish that name, or did you?"

"Me!" Elizabeth replied, obviously quite proud of herself.

"I love it," Ash stated, leaning down to pat the Oddish. "Hi there, Mr. Oddball!"

"Odd!"

Misty and Tracey both giggled, while Aiden became distracted by the sight of Professor Oak. Grinning, he ran up to the researcher, excitedly crying out, "Professor!"

The elderly man returned the boy's enthusiastic expression. "Ah, Aiden! There you are! I was surprised when your sisters came back here without you."

"I got a little too excited and went right for the lab," Aiden admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "But I'm glad I found you! I wanted to ask you for some advice!"

Professor Oak appeared surprised. "Advice?"

Aiden nodded his head. "I've been training for the Indigo League, and I wanted to know if you had any tips to give me while I get ready!"

The older man chuckled again. "My, I don't know how prudent my advice is when it comes to big competitions. I think your father would have better advice than me! But I'd be happy to give you some words of encouragement."

Aiden did not seem to understand what the professor meant by that. Clearing his throat, Professor Oak held up one of his fingers and recited, "Do your best! Victory and success are not so Farfetch'd."

The boy let out a garbled noise and nearly fell on his face, while Michelle's eyes began to sparkle. "Wow, you came up with that poem right on the spot! You're amazing, Professor Oak!"

He laughed softly. "I don't know about that, but I appreciate the positive feedback!"

"Michelle does love your Pokémon poetry," Misty mused, nodding her head.

"That reminds me!" Tracey suddenly gasped. "Professor, I just finished the cover art for your next book of poems. I'd love for you to review it and get your thoughts."

Michelle gasped. "A new book of poems?!"

Professor Oak beamed and nodded. "Indeed! I'll be sure to give you the first copy, Michelle. And Tracey, I'm sure the artwork is just perfect! You've never let me down with any of your illustrations. But I'd still like to take a look…just so I can get a sneak peek!"

Michelle could hardly contain her excitement. "Oh, could I see too, Uncle Tracey? I love your artwork just as much as I love the professor's poems!"

"Of course!" Tracey assured.

Before the three could move back towards the lab, however, everyone was taken off guard by a loud roar, followed by an equally brash boom.

"Whoa, what was that?" Aiden breathed.

Tracey groaned. "I sure hope the Pokémon aren't fighting again!"

"Doesn't Dad's Bulbasaur always break up those arguments?" Michelle asked.

"Yes, but they do sometimes get a bit out of hand," Professor Oak sighed.

"We can go check it out for you!" Ash volunteered. "If it's something serious, we'll step in and cool things off."

"Are you sure?" Professor Oak asked warily. "I don't want to intrude on your visit here."

"It's no problem at all, professor," Misty jumped in. "We insist!"

"Yeah, let's help!" Elizabeth agreed.

Aiden frowned. "Lizzie, you don't have any Pokémon."

"Yes I do!" Elizabeth argued, holding up the Oddish in her arms.

"That Oddish-"

"Mr. Oddball!"

"Isn't yours," Aiden sighed.

"It's okay, he'll help me anyway," Elizabeth refuted, smiling at the grass type. "Let's go!"

XXX

Ash, Misty, and their three kids followed the sounds of continuous small explosions, eventually finding their way into the forested area of Professor Oak's Pokémon preserves. Things had quieted down for a moment, but the silence was soon broken by another reverberating boom, this one the loudest yet.

"That must mean we're getting closer," Aiden noted.

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "Just be careful, guys. This is a wooded area, so there are a lot of-"

"BUG! BUG!"

Ash groaned as Misty squeezed his arm like a vice. "Bug types here."

He looked up and realized a Kakuna had dropped down only a few feet away from his wife. Michelle hadn't been nearly as close, but she hated bug types just as much as her mother, and had taken it upon herself to grab onto her father's other arm.

"You guys are gonna cut my circulation off," Ash muttered.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, giggled and scurried over to the Kakuna, beaming at the Pokémon. "I'm gonna call you Kookie! Wanna meet Mr. Oddball?"

Aiden rolled his eyes and reached down to gently steer his sister away from the bug type. "Come on, Lizzie, we don't need to be ticking off one of those. A Beedrill will come after us before we know it."

Ash moved cautiously past the dangling bug type, Misty and Michelle squeezing in tight behind his back to stay as far away from the creature as possible. Once they made it past, they felt a bit more comfortable relinquishing their hiding place, although both still refused to let go of Ash's arms.

"How much longer does this forest go on for?" Michelle whined.

"Not too much," Ash replied. "I think…"

Michelle whimpered and moved her head closer to her father's shoulder. With her eyes diverted towards the ground, Michelle failed to realize that a Caterpie was crawling out of a nearby shrub. It started to follow after the girl, eventually catching up to her and pressing its snout against the back of her ankle. The second Michelle felt the cold, slimy contact, a violent shiver went up her spine. Slowly and reluctantly, the girl looked over her shoulder, down towards her foot, and caught sight of the bug type.

And before anyone could process it, she let out a scream so loud that it seemed to shake the entire preserve…not just the forest.

"GET IT AWAY!" Michelle shrieked, charging forward and nearly knocking Aiden and Elizabeth over in the process. "GET IT AWAY!"

"Michelle!" Ash cried, his eyes going wide.

"What was that about?!" Aiden demanded.

Elizabeth hummed and turned around, a smile gracing her face. "Hey, a Caterpie!"

Misty's breath caught as she looked in the same direction as her younger daughter. The worm Pokémon hadn't moved from its spot, simply appearing confused by what had just transpired. It soon realized that Misty was looking at it, however, and let out a delighted squeak as it began to inch towards her.

Now it was Misty's turn to scream and take off, causing Ash's face to deadpan.

"This isn't solving anything," he noted.

"You really think they'd get over that fear at some point," Aiden sighed.

Elizabeth appeared thoughtful for a moment before wistfully asking, "Do you like the name Cutie Pie for that Caterpie?"

XXX

Michelle barely realized it, because she'd run off in such a panic, but she'd finally reached the end of the forest, landing in a clearing made up of flat land and free of trees. She'd only stopped when she felt like she couldn't run anymore, and bent over in a desperate attempt to catch her breath.

"Oh, that was just you? I thought someone was in real trouble!"

Having just enough clarity left to recognize that voice, Michelle growled and slowly stood back up, coming face-to-face with a familiar blue eyed boy. "What do you mean just me? And what do you mean real trouble? How do you know I wasn't in real trouble?"

The boy raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

Michelle opened her mouth, but quickly closed it again when she processed the incident and how someone else would perceive it.

"Well?"

Michelle sighed and grumbled, "A Caterpie touched my leg."

There was a beat of silence before the boy burst out laughing, while the red hue of Michelle's face picked up intensity again. "It's not funny, Sam! You know I'm terrified of bugs!"

The boy finally calmed down a degree as he moved some of his dark brown hair out of his taunting eyes. "Yeah, I've always thought that was a pretty dumb fear. It's one of the only things your brother and I could ever agree on!"

Michelle growled. As she and Sam stared each other down, Misty came jogging up behind her daughter, appearing just as exhausted as the younger girl had before.

"Okay, so running and screaming is still a really bad combination…"

"Wait a sec…is your mom that scared of bugs too?"

Misty blinked and looked straight ahead. "Wait, Sam?"

The boy grinned. "The one and only!"

"I think this was the only thing worse to run into than a bug," Michelle spat, glancing at her mother over her shoulder.

"Michelle!" Misty gasped. "That's rude!"

"Yeah, well, so is Sam," Michelle grumbled.

"Don't worry about it, Mrs. K," Sam sighed. "Michelle's said much worse to me. Hard to be mad at such a pretty, fiery girl!"

Michelle pulled a face of disgust. "Gross."

A thought suddenly struck Misty. "Wait, so if you've been here, did you hear those explosions?"

"Explosions?" Sam repeated. "Oh, you must've heard my training sesh!"

"Wh-what?!" Michelle sputtered.

"Yeah, I've been here the past couple of days training for the Indigo League," Sam continued.

Michelle sighed and rolled her eyes. "And to think we were assuming it was some big Pokémon dispute we had to solve."

"Hey, are you guys okay?"

Misty and Michelle looked at one another before turning around to face the forest.

"Yeah, Ash, we're fine," Misty called back.

The Pokémon Master emerged into the clearing, Aiden and Elizabeth at his sides. As soon as he saw Sam, Aiden glowered and marched towards his rival, who seemed unaffected. "What are you doing here?"

"My great gramps lives here," Sam replied simply. "I should be asking you what you're doing here."

"I was forced to take a break from training, and I figured I could come here and ask Professor Oak for some advice," Aiden answered evenly.

"A break from training?" Sam scoffed. "You must really want to lose the league, huh?"

Aiden's anger instantly rose again. "What'd you say?!"

"Serious Pokémon trainers spend their time before a major competition actually training for it," Sam elucidated, his tone clearly patronizing. "If you'd rather goof off, you're probably not going to get very far."

"I bet I could beat you in a battle right now!" Aiden declared, whopping out one of his poke balls and holding it towards Sam.

The brunet seemed to contemplate it for a moment before letting on a teasing smirk. "Save it for the league, Aidy Boy."

Aiden glared. "You're going to tell me you actually won eight badges?"

"What do I look like to you, a loser?" Sam all but laughed. "Obviously I have eight badges! The whole reason I'm here is to do my own training for the league. Unlike you, I don't take breaks. I'm dedicating all of my energy to preparing!"

"Sam, where'd you go?"

The boy smirked. "Over here, Dad!"

Gary appeared in the clearing, his lips parting when he saw who was standing before Sam. "Oh, check it out! The Ketchumlings and their parents! Fancy running into you here."

Aiden, Michelle, and Elizabeth exchanged bewildered looks, while Misty let out a tired sigh. "Nice to see you too, Gary."

"I hope Sam wasn't causing too much trouble for you," Gary continued, earning a glare from his son.

Aiden opened his mouth to retort, but Ash was quick to cut his son off. "He's been fine. He told us he's training for the Indigo League!"

"Yeah, that's what I'm here for," Gary chuckled. "I'm his sparring partner!"

Aiden narrowed his eyes at Sam. "You'll battle your dad but not me?"

Sam shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah."

Thinking about it for a second, Aiden suddenly grinned before turning towards his own father. "Dad, when we get back home, why don't you battle me as part of my training?"

Ash was taken back, but he was quick to recover and show off a big smile. "Sure! Sounds great!"

Sam suddenly seemed annoyed. "Hold on, Aiden gets to practice against the Pokémon Master?!"

Aiden grinned malevolently at his rival. "Pretty much, yeah."

"Dad!" Sam gasped, throwing his father a horrified glance.

Now it was Gary's turn to shrug his shoulders. "Sorry, bud. Looks like you're stuck with a boring old Pokémon researcher! If you can find a way to go back in time and deter me from taking this path in life, I won't stop you."

Sam grimaced, and Aiden started to laugh at the other boy's misfortune. Misty, on the other hand, just seemed exhausted.

"I don't think these boys are ever going to get along," she fretted.

"They will one day," Ash replied confidently. "Gary and I did, after all!"

"That is true," Misty reluctantly admitted. "Although I don't know if Hell can freeze over twice."

"I would believe it if your fear of bug types had ever gone away," Ash quipped, earning a glare from his wife.

"You're not funny, Ash Ketchum!"

Next time, the Indigo League gets underway!